This invention relates generally to the field of energy collectors useful in the accumulation of solar energy or other types of radiant energy and known generally in the art as flat plate collectors.
With the growing realization that the world's supply of fossil fuel is limited and is being steadily depleted, increasing attention has been directed to the field of solar energy and to the development of more efficient and practical solar energy collectors. The known collectors typically utilize an absorber plate supported in an insulated housing and having a window-like heat barrier through which solar radiation or the like freely passes and is directed upon the absorber plate. Typically, after passing through the window, the solar energy is absorbed by the absorber plate and transferred to a fluid heat-transfer medium which may be either liquid or gaseous, the medium then being circulated by any known circulation system to a heat-utilization device such as a space heater, cooler or the like.
The known solar collectors have frequently been inefficient in that a very substantial amount of the solar energy incident upon the absorber plate is reflected and wastefully radiated back to the atmosphere. It is highly desirable that this otherwise lost and reradiated energy be captured and utilized by the collector, and this object is achieved by the invention disclosed herein.